Taking Stock. #5. 47/51. #LifeThisWeek. 94/2020.
Introducing my new collage for Taking Stock. Nothing like a small change to brighten things up!
I admit, that because of the 1000s of images I have in my photos and significant numbers in the media section of the blog itself, I spend far too much time trying to find the images, so made new ones! Hope you like it.
Remember, prompts here for #lifethisweek are ALWAYS optional. For me, and some, they are a good way to start a thread for a post.
A reminder that here’s how things work with the regular optional prompts:
Every 5th Week: Share Your Snaps:
Every 7th Week: Self Care Stories:
Every 9th Week: Taking Stock:
And, before the end of the year I will have the first 9 weeks of optional prompts for 2021 on the home page AND mentioning them in a blog post. Let me tell you, I am feeling pretty clever finishing all 51!!
Back to Taking Stock.
Making: plans, so many plans and loving it too.
Cooking: some meals for us, Dad and the freezer.
Drinking: coffee, tea, water and prune juice with fruit drink.
Reading: Rick Morton’s Book On Money. Highly recommend it.
Wanting: a Certain Ex-President to wave (ok, don’t wave) BYE-BYE. Now. Thanks.
Looking: at so many ideas for celebrating 50 years of marriage.
Playing: Hamilton sound track more often than any music. Have not even STARTED on Christmas tunes yet.
Wasting: more money than I should have purchasing a crappy Ipad cover with blue tooth keyboard. Got some of my money back & told keep the product.
Wishing: I had taken more time over above purchase. Now using an old case.
Enjoying: Schitts Creek. I loved it so much once I survived Ep 1 of Season One. Now it’s about to join Downton Abbey in my ‘comfort-go to’ watching.
Waiting: for ….not much at all really.
Liking: that the community is still making an effort where possible to be socially distant in this COVID year.
Wondering: if it’s possible for Australia’s Prime Minister to actually DO something to HELP people who NEED it most. OK, yes, I am shouting a bit. Sorry.
Loving: the images out of Melbourne in particular where people who did it so very very tough in lockdown for COVID are getting out and about. Safely.
Hoping: that Australia and its near neighbours (and actually our states too) can open their borders safely.
Marvelling: at the incredible fortitude of many people who are in the hands-on caring profession. I am sorry many have become ill themselves.
Needing: very little at all.
Smelling: the ocean when I get out of the car to view it.
Wearing: shorts and sleeveless tops more these days. Suddenly (almost) Summer is here.
Following: the state of American politics with much shaking of my head.
Noticing: when some people I know in my social media feed are not there.
Knowing: those people are likely to have a personal or private reason to be so, but a kind check in does not hurt.
Thinking: how much we need to stay connected even if it’s not in person.
Feeling: that generally I am pretty careful not to exceed friendship bounds but also that I can care at a distance.
Bookmarking: I literally am these days! Reading a couple of chapters each night of Grown Ups by Marian Keyes, and
Opening: the app for Audible to listen to her narrate her story.
Smiling: at myself because I am currently listening to two Irish accented people (Graham Norton and Marian Keys) on audible and my inner thoughts are with an Irish accent!
So, I went with a traditional post today for Taking Stock. But I did find some photos from recent weeks. They are not matching the prompts but here goes:
- Photo #6 Late 2020 All Going Well
- 11.11.2020 from Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.
- Model for me to copy. Husband is dishwasher king.
- Getting ready to celebrate 50 years wed.
- Two Bags gone to Bunnings for Share The Dignity.
- Local ‘Cheap Shop’ display.
- View of the Lake from the top of the stairs at my hairdressers.
- Mural by a local person for NAIDOC week.
- November 2020
I admit, I am finding the writing and posting in these last weeks of 2020 tiring. I think it’s because of the topics!! I know, who set them? No actually it’s the Telling My Story Posts. I wanted to get more out in 2020, and the final one for this year will be week after next. It’s a bit of a challenge to write them to ensure I am telling the story with some accuracy that will not offend people. So far, so good.
Denyse.

Link Up 216
Life This Week. Link Up #216
You can link up something old or new, just come on in.
* Please add just ONE post each week! NOT a link-up series of posts, thank you.
* Feel free to go with the prompt for the week to add your ‘take’ on the prompt. Or not.
* Please do stay to comment on my post as I always reply and it’s a bloggy thing to do!
* Check out what others are up to: Leave a comment on a few posts, because we all love our comments, right!
* Add a link back to this blog in your post somewhere, or on your sidebar or let others know somewhere you are linking up to this blog’s Life This Week.
*Posts deemed by me, the owner of the blog & the link-up, to be unsuitable for my audience will be deleted without notice. These may include promotions, advertorials and any that are overly religious or political or in any way offensive in nature.
* THANK you for linking up today! Next week’s optional prompt: 48/51 Self-Care Stories #7 30.11.2020 And it’s my birthday! 71 next Monday.
Grateful For This. 38/51. #LifeThisWeek is 4 years old! 76/2020.
Grateful For This. 38/51. #LifeThisWeek is 4 years old! 76/2020.
If I could reach out to you all, here’s what you might have to celebrate the blog’s 4 years of link ups on Mondays. Big on cake and biscuit cooking at my place.
Where did it all start?
Back in August-September 2016. Gosh, I hadn’t even known I had cancer back then. Lovely Kirsty from here, decided to close her Monday link up called “I Must Confess” and I approached with an idea for Mondays and she was delighted to support and promote….we ARE good mates!! Thanks Kirsty.
This post tells some of the story too.
Here is the first blog post about it. With the first set of optional prompts.
M E M O R Y L A N E : September each year.
2016: see above
2017:
2018:
2019:
About the Optional Prompts.
I admit they can be easy to decide and then, I can find some weeks harder than others. I do use a calendar for some, for example recent post on Sydney 2000 based on the Sydney Olympics Anniversary. Some are personal because I have some views I want to share but they can apply generally, for example “birth order”. Then in 2018 I made a plan to help sort out the year by adding:
Each 5th week: Share Your Snaps (photo-based post)
Each 7th week: Self-Care Stories
Each 9th week: Taking Stock
This meant for me I “only” needed to come up with prompts in between those intervals.
The reality of the blogging calendar is there are 51 weeks of prompts, and often the last one or two is free choice.
Why Optional Prompts?
Sometime we can sit at the computer and draw a blank but we still want to write! I know this helps me to have a prompt but to ensure no-one felt if they had not blogged based on the prompt they could not link up, I call them optional prompt.
2020.
What a year 2020 has been. Nothing like any of us expected when we made our first of the year posts and mine was this!
I admit when I set out to make a daily gratitude post on Instagram, I thought it would be easy. I knew I could find, feel and notice gratitude all around me. I was ready! Bring it on. Then…the year changed as we know, for all of us. My go-to daily activities were curtailed via the big C (not cancer, the other one) and I also had some surgical procedures. I really HAVE had to seach for gratitude far more deeply and note it even on the worst days for me. I continue to do the daily gratitude on Instagram (see the right hand side of the blog) until 31.12.2020.
2021.
I have no particular hopes nor dreams for 2021, given how 2020 has played out, but I do know one thing: Hamilton, the Musical, has been on repeat for me.
This sums it up…the title anyway, for 2021 and Life This Week!
Thank you for linking up today and commenting too. I will read your post later this week, as always!
Denyse.
Link Up 207
Life This Week. Link Up #207
You can link up something old or new, just come on in.
* Please add just ONE post each week! NOT a link-up series of posts, thank you.
* Feel free to go with the prompt for the week to add your ‘take’ on the prompt. Or not.
* Please do stay to comment on my post as I always reply and it’s a bloggy thing to do!
* Check out what others are up to: Leave a comment on a few posts, because we all love our comments, right!
* Add a link back to this blog in your post somewhere, or on your sidebar or let others know somewhere you are linking up to this blog’s Life This Week.
*Posts deemed by me, the owner of the blog & the link-up, to be unsuitable for my audience will be deleted without notice. These may include promotions, advertorials and any that are overly religious or political or in any way offensive in nature.
* THANK you for linking up today! Next week’s optional prompt: 39/51 Healthy. 28.9.2020
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